Bullied Mate Of The Lycan Kings
Chapter 166

Zac's pov

Dahlia charged forward with her shadow humanoids and the Gold crest soldiers looked even more hopeful as they followed after her, their spirits renewed as the tides turned in our favour. Some of them dashed into buildings to put out fires and scour for any survivors that could be rescued while the others, including myself, cleared our way through the enemies until we reached the borders.

The fight was practically over before it even started.

The border didn't look any different from where we had come from. There were dead bodies all around, some human and some not. The rest of the soldiers advanced forward to check if there were still any signs of invasion while Dahlia and I rushed to where Cade was laying on the ground, being attended to by Ren of all people.

He was the last person I expected to see here because the last time we spoke, he was supposed to be keeping an eye out for Aiden. How had he even gotten here? I wanted to hope Ren being here was a sign that good things awaited us but instead I felt nothing but dread.

As we rushed towards them, I took in the state of Cade's injuries and my heart clenched in part dread, part relief. He was alive, although he was badly injured.

"What did you do? Run into a bomb explosion or something?"

"Or something," he bit out, grunting in pain.

"This habit of using yourself as a damn human shield is going to get you killed one day," I mused, dropping to my hunches beside Ren, who hadn't said anything because all his attention was focused on healing Cade. A gentle glow radiated off his palms and eyes as Cade's flesh knitted itself back together.

Cade had large burn marks all over him, probably from running directly into bomb detonations and there was a giant s***h on his side but besides that, he seemed fine. 'You'll be alright."

He nodded at me, his lips set in a grim line as Ren practically reassembled his bones. He had my respect. Not many new Alphas as young as he was would charge headfirst into an attack when they could hide away and send their foot soldiers to do the work. "Dorian!" Dahlia cried, dropping to the ground and throwing herself on Cade, kissing his face and when he lifted one hand to hold her, confused for a moment as if he didn't hear her correctly.

Dahlia pulled back to hug Ren, who broke concentration and hugged her back for a second, before he froze and pulled her back to search her face.

I saw him flinch, a look of confusion washing over him as he shared a look with Cade before they both looked to me for an explanation.

1 didn't understand what they were confused about until Dahlia rose and stood beside me, a satisfied smile stretching both her lips. It was Lily's face but that smile was filled with something that was both old and ruthless. I realized that they were confused about Lily's strange behavior and the humanoids that surrounded us.

"Guys, meet Dahlia, she's in control of Lily's body for a while," I introduced, "Dahlia, this is 2/3rd and frankly the least good looking of the rest of your mates. Now that we're all caught up-" because we need to focus on our major issue at the moment. Dahlia was on our side and that was all that mattered to me.

"-What in the fresh hell

just happened? and-" I raised my eyebrows at Ren- "How are you even here?"

"I was already on my way here. I was too late though." He said, his shoulders dropping as his golden brown eyes did a sweep of our surroundings.

Which means he knew about the attack happening. How?

And why was I sure that I would not like his answer?

"How were so many hunters able to make it to that Gold crest undetected? The only way that would happen is if they were able to somehow pass through all of Shadow cove defenses without alerting the Council, which is practically impossible."

Ren rose to his feet, his hair tied in a knot at the back of his head with blood streaks striking the white blond strands, a frown on his face as his answer confirmed my worst nightmare.

"The council tipped them."

"That's impossible!" I said vehemently, but I knew Ren was many things but a liar.

"What do you mean?" Dahlia asked, her gaze intense in a way that would intimidate any who dared to lock gaze with her.

"I mean the council sabotaged Gold Crest."

"Why the f**k would they do that? Gold Crest's not their problem anymore." A blazing inferno was swirling inside of me as I tried to make sense of a broken system I had lost faith in a long time ago."

"Since the verdict was passed, there have been more meetings. Secret meetings. Some of the council members argued that the pack got too light a sentence and now that Gold Crest is no longer a part of Shadow Cove, they posed a threat to the rest of the cove thanks to their manufacturing of rhodium. They decided that because Gold Crest was no longer officially a part of the cove, they needed to be treated like an enemy pack and strike first before Gold Crest does. But they wanted to do it in a way that evidence wouldn't lead back to them."

"Yeah right. Of course the Council would think like that.

They've always been self serving," Cade scoffed, his voice filled with bitterness and I didn't envy the cross he had to bear right now as Alpha and hearing that the rest of the other packs were trying to annihilate him and his people like we were not once a part of one big community.

"And their great big idea was to collude with the enemy." I deadpanned because how fvcking stupid was that?

"I stumbled on the meeting by pure accident when I was still trying to replace Aiden_"

"With your cool new powers, I bet."

"Yes," he answered, only slightly miffed that I was probably not taking this as seriously as I needed to.

"It was a secret

meeting held behind our parent's backs by a majority of the council that were in agreement. They struck a deal with the hunters. The hunters agreed that if the council hands over Gold crest and all of itsyesources to them without providing resistance, they would not attack Shadow cove in the future. The hunters were coming to loot the mines for rhodium and gold, that's why they came with everything they had to attack. They had nothing to lose."

I didn't blame them. Who would factor in a vengeful primordial goddess in their plans to take over the world?

"No, they came to destroy." Dahlia said beside me, her voice as cold as ice. Her mind seemed to be running a mile a minute and I could see the conclusion she had come to at the end of it. Nothing but bloody murder was on her mind.

"Those old geezers are long due for retirement, don't you agree?" She asked, an unsettling smile touching her lips, ruthless delight sparked in her eyes.

She looked at Cade. "I am sure that the rest of your army can take care of things here, can't they?"

"Yes. The worst is over." Cade responded and rose to his feet, already seeing the direction Dahlia was heading.

Thanks to Ren's healing abilities, he looked a lot better and wasn't bleeding anymore.

She tilted her head, a coy smile playing on her dark red lips.

"Then I think we should pay the Council a visit. If you are strong enough to go with us, that is"

Cade's eyes were filled with vengeance as he nodded and it wasn't long before an armoured car was prepared for the four of us to go in. Just the four of us. We have all the army we need and we couldn't afford any fatalities if our attack blows up in our faces. Ren was behind the wheel while I sat in the passenger seat.

Cade had his head resting on Dahlia's lap and the entire ride, there was nothing but an eerie calmness exuding from Dahlia, even as she stroked Cade's hair like he was her favourite cat.

However, when our eyes met, I saw that she was thinking of c*****e, the darkness in her eyes showing that she wanted nothing but bloodshed. I grinned back at her, enjoying the promise of retribution.

Let us hope that her enemies said their last prayers to the moon goddess... because mercy was the last thing on this goddess' mind.